| General Blaskic was released five times faster than expected In the coming days, the released Tihomir Blaškic, who was sentenced for war crimes by the appeals chamber of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), intends to leave Zagreb for his native places in Central Bosnia. The discount for the ex-Bosnian Croat general was significant - the term was reduced five times, from 45 to 9 years.
However, a war criminal forgiven by Western judges is unlikely to receive a warm welcome at home. Bosnia, where witnesses to the atrocities of his charges are still alive, is outraged by the softness of international justice. About 200 thousand people died in the brutal Bosnian conflict of 1992-1995 between Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs. However, at Zagreb airport Blaškić was greeted by a jubilant crowd of Bosnian war veterans, friends and family. The Croats optimistically regarded the ICTY decision as “a historic contribution to establishing the truth about the conflicts in Central Bosnia.”
Tihomir Blaškic spent eight years and four months in the ICTY prison Scheveningen. He received his essentially life-long 45-year sentence in March 2000 for his participation in the bloody massacre of the early 1990s between Bosnian Croats and Muslims. Last week, the appeals chamber dropped 17 of 20 charges against him, including the massacre of 116 Muslims from the village of Akhmichi, who were burned alive in their homes or slaughtered on April 16, 1993. Blaškic's lawyers proved that the order for their murder was given by Dario Kordić, now serving a 25-year sentence under the ICTY sentence.
The voluntary surrender of Tihomir Blaškic to the tribunal in 1996 also affected the mitigation of the sentence. In general, it was forced: Croatia was under pressure from the world community, and Zagreb had to cooperate with the ICTY for the sake of the prospect of admitting the country to the European Union. But the Croats did not leave the patriot alone with the ICTY. At first, Zagreb paid for his two-month house arrest in The Hague. Just guarding Blashkich under house arrest cost $6,000 a day. They also found him smart lawyers. The trial lasted 25 months. During this time, the judges heard testimony from 156 witnesses.
The current victory for Blaškic's lawyers has heightened interest in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Some of the charges against him are also related to the Bosnian war. If one of the participants in that conflict was released so quickly and painlessly, perhaps the sophisticated politician and lawyer Milosevic will be able to somehow turn this to his advantage. Katerina LABETSKAYA |
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